Welcome

The Department of Biological Safety is responsible for programs concerning the safe use of recombinant and/or synthetic nucleic acids, infectious agents, and potentially infectious materials such as human sourced materials in the research and teaching laboratories at the University of Kentucky. This includes training, auditing, and consulting with researchers, laboratory personnel and teaching staff concerning compliance with the federal and state laws and regulations in these areas. The Biological Safety Officer is the liaison between researchers and the Institutional Biosafety Committee, which reviews protocols dealing with infectious agents and/or recombinant and/or synthetic nucleic acids.

Our Mission

The mission of the Biological Safety Program at the University of Kentucky is to ensure the safe use of recombinant and/or synthetic nucleic acids, infectious agents, and potentially infectious materials in research and teaching activities so as to eliminate or reduce the potential exposure to personnel or the environment. Rather than ensuring mere compliance with the federal regulations, guidelines, and University policies, UK’s Biological Safety Program strives to adhere to the highest ethical standards in the protection of personnel and the environment from potential exposure to potentially biohazardous materials. In service of this mission, the Biological Safety Program endeavors to:

Continue to inform researchers about the application of the federal regulations in an effort to keep researchers current with evolving standards.

Educate faculty, staff, and students who conduct research with recombinant and/or synthetic nucleic acids, infectious agents and potentially infectious materials of their responsibilities to protect themselves and the environment from potential exposures.

Develop new approaches that better serve the overarching mission of the University and assess the overall effectiveness of the program.